The Five Lesbian Bloggers

back in the saddle again

2007-05-24T16:11:00.001-04:00

Hello Devoted Friends of The Brothers-

It's been a long time and I apologize for the absence, but life is just one theatrical whirlwind after another! A few quick notes regarding the Bros and our whereabouts today, but do look forward to a more regular return to posting from yours truly, Brother Moe.

-Oedipus at Palm Springs is BACK!!!!

Yes, folks, it's true. If you missed the original production or if you just can't stop thinking about that creepyfun play, you will have the chance to see it all again in a brand spanking new production this fall. Thanks to the generous dedication of our good friends and partners in crime at Theater Offensive, Boston will be the host city for the premiere of the all-new, all-girl Five Lesbian Brothers Ladies Auxiliary production of Oedipus at Palm Springs!

This fantastic new production will include two Original Flavor Brothers (my naked colleague Babs Davy and myself) and we are in the exciting process of recruitment of three new colleagues for the Ladies Auxiliary. As time has gone on it has become more and more difficult to maintain our original fiveness, what with Tony awards to be nominated for and Hollywood calling and mortgages to freak about and thinking about trying to get a bun in the oven. When does a girl have time to scoop the litter box, much less consider touring a show? Thus the Ladies Auxiliary is being initiated to keep the public happy by continuing to bring you quality lesbian theatre for the masses.

We're delighted to be working with some of the most excellent advocates, supporters and champions of our work at Theater Offensive and a HUGE shout of gratitude goes out to Abe and Eve and to Nikki who have toiled long and hard over several years to make this show finally come to be. I know I am neglecting the many others who have given generously of their time and efforts and my apologies that my rush of typing has left you on the threshing room floor. But that is where the kernels are to be found and know you are in good company. Thanks, all the folks at T-Off!

So, before I say anything else, let me call out to any ladies in the Boston area who are theatrically inclined and might want to audition for the show! No kidding! Have a look:

The Five Lesbian Brothers with The Theater Offensive seek
non-equity Female Actors of all ethnicities (and any sexual orientation) for the New England Premiere & Touring Production of the Brothers’ newest play,
“Oedipus at Palm Springs”!

Written by The Five Lesbian Brothers
Co-commissioned by The Theater Offensive, Out North and The National Performance Network and supported by a Project Ensemble Grant from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP).

All actors are paid.
Auditions Monday June 11 6-9pm and Tuesday June 12 6-9pm at the Boston Center for the Arts’ Artist Studios building in Boston's South End.

Auditions by appointment only.
To schedule an appointment:
· Email your resume and headshot to maureen.angelos@gmail.com
· Please include your audition availability and full contact information (including email), so that we can send you materials to prepare for the audition.

[If you do not have email access or electronic files, please mail hardcopies to: O@PS Auditions, c/o The Theater Offensive, 43 Thorndike St #14, Cambridge MA 02141]

PREPARE:
· Monologue required
· You may be asked to read from the script
· Review rehearsal & performance schedule (below).
· Bring list of any known or tentative schedule conflicts

SCHEDULE & LOCATION (2007):
Rehearsals take place at the Boston Center for the Arts weekday evenings and weekend days, Sept 17- Oct 21.
Tech week begins October 22.
Performance Schedule: Preview October 24 at 7.30pm; Evening Shows October 25-28 plus Saturday matinee in the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts.

NOTE: Possible touring gigs in 2008.

SYNOPSIS
Two lesbian couples in long term relationships meet for a weekend of fun and sun away from their busy lives in Los Angeles. Set in “an exclusive desert resort for women”, the four friends attempt to recapture their more carefree days, before things like mortgages, child-rearing and career focus were not in the picture. CON and FRAN have been together 17 years and are using the weekend to try and reconnect sexually after focusing their energies on their new son. PRIN and TERRI have been together seven years and PRIN seems finally ready to commit to TERRI, who is struggling to find her birth mother. The mixture of sunshine, golf, outlet shopping, cocktails and a little soothsaying from JONI, the blind innkeeper, bring tensions to the surface and a birthday surprise turns the four friends’ weekend getaway into an unforeseen tragedy.

Character Breakdown (Some nudity required.)

PRIN: aged 52. PRIN is a handsome stone butch, who is successful in business, works hard and lives the resulting upper-middle class lifestyle proudly. She has been a “playah” in the past but is clearly crazy about TERRI. They have been together for seven years, a record for PRIN.

TERRI: aged 36, but must be believably 16 years younger than PRIN. Younger hottie is the key. TERRI is an adorable femme, fashionable and usually upbeat in that SoCal way. She is literally searching for her identity and trying to locate her birth mother. TERRI is in school, getting a degree in communications. She is crazy about PRIN.

CON: aged 44, strong-willed femme. CON came of age during feminism’s peak and enjoys the unexpected gifts that middle class life has given her. She works as a hospital administrator. She has been with her partner FRAN for 17 years and is the non-bio parent of their three year old son, Basil.

FRAN: aged 40-something, butch light. FRAN is the bio-mom of her and CON’s young son Basil and has made life choices in order to facilitate that, signing up for stability instead of risk by taking a desk job. She is very bonded to her bio-son and is also exhausted by motherhood. She’s an old friend of PRIN.

JONI: aged 50+. JONI is from Canada but has worked as a lesbian resort manager in the States during the winters for decades, a “snow bird”. She is blind. She considers herself artistic and clairvoyant, in the way lots of people can think of themselves in Southern California. She’s “woo-woo” and kinda odd, a mysterious loner drawn to the desert.

Note: No housing is available to out-of-area performers. The roles of Joni and Fran are already cast.

Actors of color are encouraged to audition. The Theater Offensive and The Five Lesbian Brothers are EOE.

So that's the story friends. Please stay tuned and I will be back at it here, giving you the blow-by-blow from the queer theater circuit. Thanks for being loyal and please send this audition notice to any theater-type ladies who might be interested in working with the 5LBs! Or two of us anyway...

peace and italian ices,
moe.

tony hangover

2006-06-12T08:13:00.000-04:00

It's been awhile Friends of the Brothers, but it does not mean you all are not on my mind. Life gets busy sometimes, but I still think of you often and with great fondness.

I awoke this morning and thought for a brief moment that my own Lesbian Brother Lisa Kron had won a Tony Award last night, along with her enchanting colleague, Jayne Houdyshell. On top of this triumph, I also believed that in some great cosmic weirdness, Oedipus at Palm Springs had also won a Tony, along with Leigh. The show was so damn good, the League of Broadway Producers gave it Tonys, even though it wasn't even on Broadway!

You may chalk this all up to my case of serious jet lag which I am experiencing and was in full effect last night during my delusional viewing of the ceremonies on TV, live from forty blocks north and four blocks west (they're the big crosstown blocks!) at Radio City Music Hall. Unfortunately, the reality of the awards did not sync up to my more free-flowing sequence of events.

But let me take this moment anyway to give a big old Moe Angelos Not-Tony Award to Dame Lisa Kron, Dame Jayne Houdeyshell and Dame Leigh Silverman for their Tenacious Spirits, Bravery and Foxy Outfits in the strange and wonderful universe that is Broadway theatre. The Not-Tonys would like to acknowledge their hard work and guts in bringing the so-called downtown message of creativity to the uptown, peanut-crunching masses of Times Square. Thank you ladies. You have carried us all with you just a little bit and opened a door for the kinds of plays and performances and vision of shows like Well to pass through in the future.

Here's to Well, the cast, crew, writer, director, producers and everybody who believed in this show. What a thrill it was to see you all gussied up on TV last night and I know it will be the first time of many such occasions.

moe.
president of the Not-Tony Committee

public service announcement

2006-04-09T12:58:00.000-04:00

Hello Dear Reader:

Well, Well has opened on Broadway to fantastic reviews. By now, anyone reading this probably already knows that but still, there is no shortage of accolades for the magnificent piece of theatre that is Well. I am proud to say as Lisa Kron's Lesbian Brother and Leigh Silverman's Lesbian Uncle, that this show is leading us all down the path to the bright creative future of Broadway.

The opening night was fantastic and it had all the glamour that you might think about when lapsing into daydreams about what it must be like to go to a Broadway opening. The house was not your typical Thursday night, dinner-and-a-show Times Square crowd but instead was full of celebrities sitting cheek-by-jowl with more regular folk like good friends from out of town and Lisa's family and lots of theatre people. The Brothers were all there to show the love and it was easy to show when it comes gushing out of us that way that it did. It was a fantastic performance and yes, there was standing at the curtain call, along with bouquets of flowers for the ladies onstage.

Then there was the big par-tay at Hard Rock Cafe which was also as you might have imagined. We had a special entrance to go in and this lead to a big room with a stage that was not exactly what I'd term a cafe but it definitely was hard rock. There were tables set up and fabulous buffet stations and yes folks, since you are wondering, an open bar! More celebrities were sighted and hung around to give their good wishes to the cast and crew of the show.

The buffet line is one of the great leveling forces in our culture and being able to see Joan Allen choose what she wanted for her meal really gave me a sense of closeness to her. She is a real person, who likes a buffet just like me and I think we both got the tortellini, which made me feel like we were old friends. The next time I see her at a party, I will have something in common with her now and will have something to chat about. How exciting for me!

Anyway, Lisa and Jayne finally made their way into the hard-rockingness of it all and there were many photo ops and hugs and smiles and Lisa was engaged with many conversations with old people about the show and we all talked to Lisa's family, who are known to the Brothers for decades by now. I stated to feel a little old at some point in the evening when I got a crank on about the loudness of the music which made it hard to actually have a conversation. I thought this would lead to dancing but alas, it did not as nobody wanted to leave their tables and make way for the dancefloor to happen. I decided though that I am at the point in my life that if my show ever opens on Broadway, I would like my party to be at the Lite FM Cafe, as my days of hard rocking are clearly over.

Everybody had a supergood time and we were all so proud of Lisa and her work and the show.

So now I would like to take a moment to urge all of you reading this to go immediately to the web or the phone and get in touch with the Telecharge people and buy several tickets to the show. It cannot be missed, especially in its uptown incarnation and we at The Five Lesbian Brothers Cultural Project would be ever so grateful if you supported this fine work of theatre. It is the kind of play that should be on Broadway and almost never is these days, a truly complex work with amazing performances and beautiful directing that does not have any movie stars or washed-up tv personalities in their post-rehab comebacks. It is simply a wonderful play and if you don't believe me you can look at Ben Brantley's review in the NY Times or at Time Out NY or Newsday. Buy early, buy often people. It's not even that expensive for Broadway and I think you can get a ticket for under 30 bucks, which is what you'd pay to see a bad movie and eat a lot of hydrogenated fat and 64 ounces of soda at the multiplex. Do your heart a favor and see Well instead. It will feed you in all the right ways, and with none of the calories!

I provide here a link for you:

www.wellonbroadway.com

Go people, go! Or be forever sorry. Remember live theatre needs you to get up from your cubicle and go sit in a room with the actors. It's really exciting, for those of you who don't know. Totally worth the trip and almost all the subways go to Times Square.

Congratulations to Lisa and her incredible cast and to Leigh the director extraordinaire and to the lovely John Dias who has toiled tirelessly to make the magic of this show happen.

GO SEE WELL!! Or else I will not be your friend.

Your Friend For Now,
moe.

it's been awhile

2006-03-29T14:51:00.000-05:00

Dear Avid Readers-

Please forgive my long absence from this here blogspace. Life has got ahold of me by the toe lately and I have been remiss in my duties of letting you all know about the world of Oedipus at Palm Springs and the Five Lesbian Brothers. Apologies to you all and thanks for coming back and giving us another try after six longs months of silence.

So, the show is sleeping peacefully for the time being as the individual lives of the Brothers spin off into other orbits. Dominique and Peggy returned to California and new jobs for both of them. Congratulations to these two hardy artists for figuring out how to make a decent living for themselves. Babs meanwhile, is back at her station at her regular job where she has to wear clothes all the time. It will not be a surprise to anyone that saw the show why this would be a big disappointment for Babs, but we all do what we must to pay the premium cable bills and that cute girl that gives an extra free espresso shot in my latte. I myself have been all over hell's half acre on tour with another fabulous but very different show I am in called Supervision. Perhaps it is coming soon to a theatre near you and you may check and see on its web site: www.superv.org.

But the most exciting day job of all is our own Lisa Kron's. For those of you residing out of range of the New York Times, Lisa is about to open her show "Well" on Broadway tomorrow night! All the Brothers are in town for the glamorous gala event and I think I speak for all of us when we say we are tickled pink by this event. Not only is Lisa in the show, but she wrote it too. Plus, it is directed by none other than Leigh Silverman, the directorial genius behind Oedipus at Palm Springs. I will write a report as soon as I come to after the opening night party on Thursday but meanwhile friends, please do go see Lisa's fabulous show. For more information, check out their cool web site at www.wellonbroadway.com and there you will find yet another blog, this one written by the incredible Jayne Houdyshell, an actor that everyone who cares about the theatre should see on stage.

On another exciting note, Oedipus at Palm springs just won a GLAAD Media Award this past Monday night for outstanding New York Theater, Broadway or Off-Broadway. Thank goodness Take Me Out was not this past season! And thanks to all the voters on the GLAAD panel for coming to see our show. And if you gave us the award just because of the above-mentioned nudity, please I do not want to know.

OK friends, remember to go see the fine work of Lisa Kron and Leigh Silverman, reunited in the Longacre Theatre on the Great White Way. It is a fantastic show and tickets will make a great Passover or Easter gift. Or if you are a Pagan, then celebrate the gift of daylight savings time with two on the aisle for the Downtown Show That Could, "Well"!

More update on this and other matters to come.

xo,
moe.

i will be back

2005-09-19T22:57:00.000-04:00

Dear Blog Friends-
Sorry I have been out of the loop here with the updates on the show. It closed of course and we were all very sad about that and continue to be. I guess it is a classic case of post-partum, times everyone on the show. It was all such fun and so satisfying and there are things I still would like to say about it and will.

Keep the faith dear public and I will return to this space in a day or so to give you updates on what Your Lesbian Brothers are doing in our showless free-fall. Life goes on and so do the Brothers and I will report faithfully very soon.

Keep on keepin' on,
moe.

eight more chances

2005-08-22T23:19:00.000-04:00

Yes, folks that's right, you still have eight chances to see Oedipus at Palm Springs with the original cast before it gets turned into a Hollywood blockbuster starring Frances McDormond, Holly Hunter, Jodie Foster, Halle Berry and Robert DeNiro in his first lesbian role. We'd love to see you down at NYTW and I can promise you a stimulating evening at the theater. My offer still stands to speak with anyone who'd like to hang around after the show.

Today was a bona fide day off and all is quiet on the Eastern Village front. I had big plans to accomplish things like laundry today but I must tell you that taking a long nap around 4:00 when my personality was at its nadir took precedent. The weather in the city took a nice turn for the cool and dry and I found it irresistible for sleeping. Just so you know, I am not a napper friends but everything combined to send me to slumberland for a few hours. I am not a slacker "artist", I am not!

I did sort the laundry. And I changed the cat litter. That's how glamorous it is Off-Broadway, folks.

We had special guests visiting us again at the performances yesterday, notably Pat and Rosemary, bio-sisters to Peg and family to the rest of the Brothers, who drove like demons up from Richmond to see the show. Also our friends Jessie and Jill from San Francisco, Kathleen from Toronto and Mary Beth and Therese from Minneapolis. Wow, we are some lucky girls to have all these great people with very busy lives of their own make the effort to come and see us and this show.

It's the final week everyone, so don't forget to come and see us while you still have the chance. Also, a word of advice on the ticket situation. If you are told by the Telecharge people that there are no more tickets for a particular performance, it might be wise to go to the theater anyway and see if you can get one. People turn in their tickets at the last minute and the actual box office has more seats usually than Telecharge seems to be aware of. When I have sent friends to do this, they have not been turned away.

See you later.
moe.

back again!

2005-08-20T18:45:00.000-04:00

Hello!

Sorry to be away for a few days but things got busy. I am between shows on Saturday, finished the matinee and have a few precious moments to share with you here in the blogsphere.

Things are going well, what can I say? The show motors along and we are visited by friends and family from all over North America. It is very exciting! I have had visitors from Toronto who came all the way to another country just to see our play. I am so very grateful for that. And tonight, my good friends Suzy and Joe are here from Tacoma, WA. That is way further away than Toronto, if I remember correctly my geography. And in a totally different direction. These people had to take a plane to get here. Isn't that something? Suzy, it should be told, was my junior high school drama teacher from back in my days of 7th grade, before stage lights were invented and we had to do the shows like seances with candlelight. I miss those times, though not the occasional costume fire. Thank god for electricity.

We had a sweet, sorrowful parting on Thursday night with our wardrobe supervisor, Erin. She had to go to another show at another theatre which we shall not mention and we were sad to see her say goodbye. I will find a picture of her in action backstage and see if I can squeeze it in here. Erin, we miss you!

Replacing her is the fabulous Ann who has bravely stepped into Erin's place without flinching at the prospect of dressing and quick-changing five lesbians in the dark. Sexy? You bet! Ann is our lady for the next week until we close.

That's right, friends, the show is going to close. Notice was posted, as we say in the business and Oedipus at Palm Springs will be no more after next Sunday, August 28th. There's still time to see it before it melts and if you are coming from out of town, the weather has not been too bad. A little muggy today but at least no blazing sun to make it a steam bath. Autumn is just around the corner and so too are our day jobs. Sigh.

Do come and visit us and bring a bunch of people with you who would like to laugh a lot and have their heartstrings plucked by five plucky lesbos and their fantastic crew of professionals. They sell very nice sweet snacks in the lobby and coffee and tea and all that stuff, along with signed copies of our book of plays. If you don't like theatre too much, think about the literary aspect and come buy a volume of our work. It's quite a handsome book, if I do say so myself, thanks to the fabulous folks at Theatre Communications Group who published it.

OK, off to 4th street I go, quick like the bunny.

blogdaciously yours,
moe.

day "off"

2005-08-15T16:48:00.000-04:00

Welcome Blogettes!

Reporting to you live from east 13th Street where the weather is cool and gray. Super-duper NYC rainstorms yesterday and the day before cleared out all the extra-nasty August swampiness and left a moody but comfortable spot of relief in its place. It has been miserable here for the last week and we have had no rain since I can't recall when. The torrents poured down during the matinee and the evening show, complete with nifty thunder sound effects courtesy of the universe and trapping the early audience in the lobby after the show. I got to chat with some of them as I was likewise unable to venture outside and that was really nice. It is quite rewarding to speak with people about the show and hear what they got out of it.

Today we have no show but we do have a little speaking engagement over at the Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center A lovely group o folks from there came to see the show last night and they are still eager to talk about it with us. And hey, if you would like to come over and join us, you are more than welcome. The Center is on 13th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues and if you have a ticket stub to the show you get in free. Otherwise, it's five bucks I think. And you do not have to be lesbian, gay, bi or trans to come an listen and speak! That's the beauty of the Center: it is for everyone to learn about our cultures.

Hard to believe there are only two weeks left of performances but alas, it is true. There are still 16 chances to see the show, so don't wait until the last weekend, friends! We want to see you pretty faces out there.

More on this and other matters theatrical later. I'm off to pull my look together and get across town to west 13th street.

bloggin' you is easy 'cause you're beautiful,
moe.

wasting away again in Margaritaville...

2005-08-13T12:47:00.000-04:00

As promised, here is a picture of all Five Brothers, mid-margarita and singing happy birthday to Terri, a character in the show. It's a long story, but if you come and see the play it will all make sense to you.

You can see some of the Palm Springs Fabulousness in the background, concocted by the resident mad genius of decor that is Alan Shrier. He really outdid himself for the opening, let me tell you. But I think I already told you on a previous post. The party was a gay one and we laughed and talked and drank ourselves silly, deep into the night.

You can also see that I am the most wasted Brother of all, and let me tell you, those virgin margaritas have a kick to them. Good thing I didn't have a real one or I'm sure the evening would have ended with someone in police custody. The true margaritas were delicious, according to them that drunk 'em and it was a fine night all around.

The show is going well as we enter our four-show weekend today. We've had nice houses and we had a swell talkback with the audience last night, graciously moderated by our smarty-pants colleague from Vassar College, Gabrielle Cody. It was a very thought-provoking discussion and a lot of folks stuck around to hear us talk even more, after they'd just sat there and listened to us in the play. It's always intriguing to hear what our viewers got out of the piece, what they saw or had trouble with and of course, it's a joy to hear what moved them or what they were delighted by. NYTW has a curious audience, and they really like to engage with the plays that are presented. It's a great experience to be able to hear from the other side of the footlights (not that this show has footlights) about what the play provokes in people.

One question that we got last night was: where did we get our name? Dominique answered last night and I will attempt to paraphrase her here just so you readers out there might be satisfied if you too are wondering about this matter. It is an inquiry we often get and if we had a FAQs page, it would be there.

So, during the rehearsal process for our first show Voyage to Lesbos, Dominique had a graveyard shift job at a tony, midtown law firm. Now this kind of work is outsourced to South Asia and whatnot but back in the 80's, if your command of English and its grammar was good, you could make a living as a proofreader or copy editor at one of Manhattan's meglo-firms. One night around the witching hour I imagine, after an evening of rehearsing with the Bros, Dominique started doodling (yes, on her break!) and drew a picture that featured each of us and a banner above that read The Five Lesbian Brothers, as if we were a circus troupe or tumbling act. I recall we had been fooling around in rehearsal one day (yes, on our break!) and acting like we were an extra-flexible group of siblings from an Eastern Bloc country. And yes, the Soviet Union still existed in the era I am talking about! DD had also read the book of The Five Chinese Brothers as a college student (ha!) and that influenced the notion as well. We printed the drawing in the program of the show and everyone started calling us The Five Lesbian Brothers.

That's probably more detail than you needed when you just asked a simple question but hey, I got a little time on my hands this afternoon.

Oh, my that is no longer the case and I must hasten myself the nine blocks south to the theater. You still have two more weeks to see the show, friends. Please remember to be brave and stick around to say hi to us afterwards. Mention this blog and you receive a one hundred per cent discount on your signed program.

Keep on truckin',
moe.

backstage in Palm Springs

2005-08-11T12:40:00.000-04:00

Here it is friends. The glamour behind the scenes. Or is it just another weekend in the Hamptons?

I just wanted to say a few words about the future of the show, as it stands as of this morning. We are scheduled to do a tour of Oedipus at Palm Springs in 2006. This will be in the fall and so far the exact dates are undetermined but I can tell you that they include a visit to our fabulous friends in Boston, The Theater Offensive and our far northwestern cousins, the fine folks at Out North in Anchorage! Yes, we are taking this show deep into Red Sox territory and all the way to Alaska!

You may ask, why Boston and Anchorage? So let me tell you. These two fantastic theaters are actually partners in commissioning this play with another fabulous organization called the National Performance Network, which you should all know about (npnweb.org). NPN granted us some very very important money to create the show and tour it. And the best part of the deal is that we then get to take the play to the theaters that commissioned it! We hope to have more touring come together in the next several months but if you are lucky enough to live in Anchorage or Boston, keep your eyes peeled for signs of the Lesbian Brothers and come see what all the fuss is about.

As a artist friend visiting from Europe said "this is the first time I have seen so many lesbians on stage together!"

Hope you are all enjoying this summer day, wherever you may be. I am on my way out for a little bike ride with my Brother Peg to go look at the Hudson and enjoy Manhattan's Riviera.

Tanfastically Yours,
moe.

blogging in

2005-08-10T23:15:00.000-04:00

Hello Blogworld-

It is I, Moe, your faithful, if somewhat erratic blogger. Can I just say for the record that it is quite a challenge to post here as often as I would like? But just because I don't write, doesn't mean I'm not thinking about you readers out there. Hey, I miss you too.

The show is going swimmingly and we are really settling into it and I think our performances get stronger all the time. And the audiences are lovely so that helps. I always wondered if the story of Oedipus, which is a universally recognized downer (or "tragedy" in the show biz lingo of the ancients) is a story that people would want to see. And I guess it is for the folks that are coming to the theatre every night.

It is also interesting to talk to people after the show and hear their different ideas about what the Oepidus story was in the first place before we went and de-classified it. It's one of those things that most everyone has some kind of basic understanding of, through pop culture and pop psychology (there is actually a Bugs Bunny version, if I am not mistaken) but it has usually been a long time since people have visited the original story. Always fun to hear after what parts of our show they were able to connect to the prototype and what parts they may miss from the earlier version. We have been quite free in our "sampling" of the original Sophocles and it's fun to talk to folks after and hear their thoughts on our vision of this story.

Now we are in the phase of things that is a fun sort of roller coaster. We know the show and though we continue to discover new things about it at each performance, we are comfortable with playing it. The reviews are done for the most part so we can relax about all that and enjoy the ride of the rest of the run. We get to go out after the show for some late supper or whatever, as we do not have to be at the theatre early in the days for rehearsals anymore. I miss rehearsals (that is my personal favorite part of a show) and we all miss Leigh terribly but we had to send her on vacation to work on a tan on behalf of all us, the untanned, who have spent the greater part of the summer indoors in the dark. She's tanning for the team now and though it is an awesome burden, I'm sure she will return to us eventually bronzed and foxier than ever.

But I digressed, didn't I? Yet, this is the beauty of the blog. It's all about digression. Otherwise, I'd write a novel or a play that added up nicely. In Blogworld, I may range freely and you may follow if you so choose. It's kinda fun. You should all try it sometime.

Still trying to coordinate pictures from the opening night party for this space. I'm working on it. Also some more interviews to come so that you get to meet our whole team of experts who help make it all possible. And please, if you have any questions out there, feel free to write in and I will try to answer.

Ok, folks it's time for me to sign off. Keep the faith and be sure to support your local lesbian theatre collective! OK, I know that might be a tall order so at least support your local theatre. Look at your neighborhood high school and see what kind of production they are cooking up or the local dinner theatre or the big fancy theatre where they book the bus and truck shows. Volunteer to usher at your local regional theatre or pay full price and see a show.

Goodnight all.

blogging out,
moe.

there's got to be a morning after

2005-08-04T22:25:00.000-04:00

Hello Dedicated Readers:

There is not only a morning after, but I am here to tell you that there is also and afternoon and evening after. Our little juggernaut opened last night at NYTW and it was such a sweet evening. Full house of friends and family and general public and they all got on the Oedipus at Palm Springs ride with us and sailed to the end. We're off on our voyage of the run of the show and I speak for all the Brothers here in saying that we could not be happier about the journey.

There was a party after the show upstairs in the rehearsal hall that Alan (see previous blog about Alan) did his magic on and transformed into an East Village version of Palm Springs. It was catered with very nice food that I was hardly able to eat any of, as the crush of people that wanted to talk prevented me from actually getting to the catering table until late into the night after many had gone home. The frozen margaritas were flowing and this coupled with the terrific decor (yes, people there were palm trees!) made for a lovely night. Thanks so much to the people at the theatre who made the party possible. Lynn and the finance folks really turned it out for us. It was the right combo of extra touches and east 4th street realness.

Many, many friends and family came from all over the place to wish us well on our play and this was really touching. There was a huge contingent from California, composed of biological family to the Brothers and our extended families of choice and affinity, ex-loves and current loves (sometimes one in the same), the great folks from NYTW and other assorted theatre-type people. Oh, it was fun.

As the catering crew was leaving and the party was officially over, a small after-party assembled nearby at the rooftop paradise of our director Leigh. The Bros and company went up to the 35th floor and looked out over the twinkly city below, drank some beers and ate some pizza (nobody else was able to eat at the party either) and chatted into the warm Manhattan night. It was like we were in an independent film about making a show. Such nice people we know and are fortunate enough to work with.

See, my theory is that it takes the same amount of energy to make a good show as it does a bad show. There is more or less heartache and buttache of course, depending on the cast of characters and the various obstacles and challenges inherent in every production. But you work just as hard whether it turns out good or bad. OK, maybe the emotional wear and tear is greater on a show that does not do what it's trying to do, and that is no small thing. But you still have to show up and give it your all every day. And you just never know how it's gonna turn out in the end.

On this show, the process was such a wonderful mix of hard work and payoff. I don't know how the critics will respond and I tend to not read any of what is written about it, just because that's always a minefield of some sort, good or bad. I certainly hope that it is well-received because that makes people come and see the play. But there is a huge part of me that is so delighted with how this whole thing developed from the start that I can say I am truly satisfied with what we have done.

I know I've said this before, but I really do have the best job in the world right now. Of course I would like to be saving people's lives or ending the conflict in Darfour or something that has impact in another realm of realness. Alas, I am not very good at those kind of things and theater seems to be what I know how to do. Seeing as how I am not a surgeon that can re-attach blown off limbs or a millionaire who can help people in ways I can only dream about on the occasion when I buy a lottery ticket, I have the best job in the world. For me. And certainly it is my hope that the theatre that we make does help people negotiate the hard job of being human.

So thanks again to all those people who have believed in the Brothers and made it possible for us to present this slightly off-kilter take on a classic piece of our western literary heritage. It has and continues to be a true pleasure.

I will try to get a picture from the party for the blog for tomorrow. A lot were taken but none by me but they can be had so you too can feel like you were there, sipping a margarita and munching on some delicious offerings in faux-Palm Springs style.

See you later.
moe.

It's the day of the show, y'all!

2005-08-03T08:32:00.000-04:00

Dear Devoted Readers-

Good morning from the cusp of we know not what. Tonight is our official opening night and it has been a fabulous ride so far. I know I keep saying how great everything is and how fantastic everyone has been and I must sound like some low-rent lesbo version of Tom Cruise, but trust me on this one folks, the people working on this show and the atmosphere of talent, professionalism and camaraderie is unsurpassed in my experience. As a collaborative ensemble, The Brothers always strive for some kind of synchronicity in order to get our groove on together and inhabit slightly different versions of the same world we are creating. But this devotion to the cult of theatre, our brand of theatre, does not always extend beyond the inner circle of Brotherly wagons. So it is with great pleasure that I realize this morning as I write that we have succeeded in apparently brainwashing the entire staff, production and design crews at NYTW into joining us in our depraved ways. Like the armed forces, theatre is not just a job, it's a career and with the Brothers, it's a lifestyle.

At 79 East 4th Street, we are all Brothers.

So tonight, we do once again what we have all worked so hard to do. We show up at a certain place and a certain time. We wear certain clothes and some of us paint our faces. We check our equipment, look over our cues. We warm up our bodies and minds and voices to prepare ourselves in the ways we need to do our jobs. Then around 7:00, the lights go down and the music plays and we all get on the same ride together and hope that the audience is willing to come along with us.

It's a life of repetition and the trick is to make it seem like it's the first time every time. To make something we have done already new again each night. To make cold words on a page and darkness and space alive and vibrant with our bodies and energies and spirits. It's like church or temple or shul or mosque. At 7:00, we are in a room together with others, thinking individual versions of the same ideas, repeating these rituals that have been repeated by our predecessors.

Don't mean to be going all oogly-boogly on you, folks. But it is for deep and personal reasons that we do this slightly insane thing every night. It sustains us in ways that other more practical things cannot. It is deeply human and flawed and perfect all at once. And we cannot do it alone. Theatre asks of us to commune with our fellows, to experience things together, in real time with real people who breathe the same air and get irritated by same the errant cell phone ringing at the wrong moment. It reminds us we are alive, doesn't it?

Hoping so for tonight.

Please do come see us, won't you friends? Or at least keep us in your thoughts as the comedy and tragedy masks beckon us onto the boards or backstage or in the booth or in the box office. Join us in our little world.

Cross your fingers.

Blogtastically Yours,
moe.

have you seen this young woman?

2005-07-29T22:33:00.000-04:00

Name: Emma Waters
Job: Unauthorized Understudy
Sign: Gemini
Turn-Ons: Deep psychology
Turn-Offs: Man periods

Quote: "I want to act right so that my parents will let me come back and visit my Aunt Peg and Aunt Lisa again."

This Dear Readers is Emma, niece to the Brothers. She visited New York for about two weeks, during our heavy duty rehearsal period and she worked as an intern at NYTW. In her off-hours, she became the unofficial understudy of the show, as she knew our lines and parts better than we did. She saw the show every night she was here and became the crux of our fan base. She's back in Tucson now and we miss her so much. It was incredible having such a fun, thoughtful niece around and Emma, we want you back! You are the coolest young adult, ever!

Show went well tonight, thanks for asking. We had a nice house full of robust laughers and that always helps. Yes, it might be a tragedy of sorts, but it's funny in parts! Don't take it too seriously, I say. I mean, tragedy is a downer and frankly there's enough of that in this sad old world already. We are trying to lighten the load for our future generations, so fine individuals like Emma can inherit a kind world to take care of. Not to avoid the tragedies that are put before our eyes everyday, but to realize the picture is bigger and when the goddess creates a tragedy, she also formulates great joy somewhere in it. That's my philosophy for tonight and thanks for putting up with it.

The heat wave broke yesterday and the air conditioning in the theatre was fixed simultaneously, making for a quality cooled experience in the comfy seats from what we hear. Drop by and see us in the hip East Village and say hi after the show and we might even take you out with us on our almost-nightly pierogi-and-stuffed-cabbage runs to the local former-eastern bloc eateries we frequent. We are generally friendly and friendlier yet if you say something nice about the show. No pressure, but pandering to our egos goes a long way.

It's getting late here and I still have to give my cat her medication and try and make some order out of the chaos which is my bedroom during production week. I think there is more dirty laundry than floor space at this point and though I don't mind personally, I think it reads as a sign to others of my hidden mental illness when I do not straighten up. No pierogis tonight, as the girls all split up and headed home. Sigh.

Also today was our last day of rehearsal with Leigh. Double sigh. Yes, we are tired but in the best possible way. The exhilarating fatigue of doing a job thoroughly and well for great rewards. Leigh has guided the good ship Oedipus for many months from afar and these last six weeks, with her steady capable hands firmly on the steering wheel. It is a little freaky to think she will not be with us much longer and we will have to do the show by ourselves, UNSUPERVISED! Martha of course will take over to hold the show intact but our sense of loss will be great I'm sure, when Leigh is off having a well-deserved vacation. It has been a great labor of love for everyone involved in this project and I am not just saying that. Leigh has been instrumental in keeping the love flowing while at the same time having great vision and devotion to this play. If anyone reading this has the power to hire this woman to direct ANYTHING, you would not be stupid to do so. We ask only that you pay her generously and treat her like the superb artist that she is. We love you Leigh.

On that note, I shall leave you for tonight friends. And remember if you come to the show because your read this blog, don't forget to let us know that or write in at the NYTW web site and tell them so. I am Curious George about it.

stay cool,
moe.

Palm Springs on my mind

2005-07-27T18:03:00.000-04:00

This is the real Palm Springs, friends. Isn't it gorgeous? The last time the Brothers were there to work on the play, it was May and it was 114 degrees in the shade. Today in New York City it feels like it's 114 and it is not so gorgeous. As actors, we try to use what we have so I hope the oppressive weather transforms into something good and informs our performances tonight.

I'm backstage on meal break before the show. Let me set the scene for you. Dana, our assistant director is running lines with Peg on the couch or the dressing room. Ax, one of the fellas on our running crew is reading quietly. Erin, our wardrobe coordinator is busily coordinating things, putting the costumes where they need to be and preparing to help us all with our individual beauty requirements for the show. I have to get my hair blow dried for instance! Very exciting, since it is not something I explore in the rest of my life. Lots of new hair products to discover in the world. Who knew? Kate is onstage setting things up too and I can hear her voice over the monitors. It's a cozy little family we are turning into here on east 4th street. And Babs has arrived for the start of her warmup...

It is a quiet moment before the controlled storm of the show. We have done seven previews and it's starting to look like a show, folks. People sit in the audience and everything. Snacks are sold at the concession stand. Cues are called and executed and we do our best to follow direction and pick up our cues. It's all good from my perspective. And can I just say that this is by and large because of the crackerjack team of theatrical professionals that we have with us here at NYTW? From Carlos in the box office(his fancy title is Ticketing Services Manager) to Kara the house manager to our fabulous stage management to the super-capable running crew, we are in very very good hands. It is truly a pleasure to come to work every day.

I want to send a little shout out to Cherry, mother of Martha our production stage manager. The Brothers had the good fortune of meeting Cherry while we were in California, doing a reading of the show at University of LaVerne in Claremont. Cherry lives there and we all went out for a nice piece of pie after the show. And Cherry is going to come all the way out here to see the finished product on the stage. Isn't that swell? So we love you Cherry and can't wait to see you! Yay Cherry!

Now the summer rain is pounding on the roof of the theatre. A July cloudburst. Hope it does not deter the audience.

Take care good people and come see the show if you're in the mood for some entertainment in a nicely air conditioned environment.

who loves ya,
moe.

better late than never

2005-07-24T18:10:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the delay in checking in with you all but well, I had my mind on a few other things. This picture is an action shot of Martha paying attention to a moment in rehearsal from the tech table. This shot was from the day of our dress rehearsal, which seems like ages ago now. Isn't Martha sexy in her ferocious competence? Lucky for us on stage, Martha is far away from us in the booth so we do not get all distracted by her doing her job. It's another challenge for us backstage, where our stage management team and running crew are supa-studly in their cool demeanors, as they make it all happen for us and make it look effortless. Wow, life is exciting for us Lesbian Brothers!

So we have had a few shows now, including our first matinee today. We are dong really well, folks, thanks for asking. The show gets better all the time and is running like a well-tuned engine that does not burn carbon-emitting fossil fuels. A green machine are we!

Publicity is starting to happen and there is a nice picture of us in Time Out NY this week with a nice story and in the NY Times in today's arts section. The Village Voice is also running a story on us this coming week, so look out for that online if you don't live in NYC. There is also something about the show on the web site dailycandy.com and that makes us a hip thing to do, according to my hip friends. It's all very exciting.

Most exciting though is the response we are getting from people who see the show. It is very gratifying to hear from our friends of course but also to hear from the people who we don't know, the general public. One never knows how a show or performance is going to land and when someone takes the time to wait around to talk to us about what they got out of the show, it is really satisfying. Even when they are troubled or unclear about what they got out of it. Though I'm happy to say that the response has been mostly very positive.

I am backstage right now, reporting from the dressing room and we have just been called to half hour so I must go to my appointed rounds. The house music is up and the people are filing in. Off to the greasepaint go I.

Bloggily Yours,
moe.

feel like goofing off?

2005-07-18T11:21:00.000-04:00

Dear Cubicle Slacker-

Welcome to the Brothers' blog, which hopefully provides a welcome respite from your day job. Text looks better to the bosses when they walk by and catch a glance at your screen and reading is better use of the company time than Tetris or hotandhung.com. And we at the Five Lesbian Brothers support any act of subversiveness we can, especially in the workplace (see our play The Secretaries for further info).

After a day off on Saturday, we are in tech, and that means a whole lotta stuff is happening all at once. You must really keep your wits about you to get through the day. There is the set to absorb, with its levels and sheer acreage to cross and its loveliness, courtesy of David Korins. There are the lights, brought to us by ML Gieger, also lovely and those are happening too. And the sound which is brilliantly delivering itself to us thanks to John Gromada. And our costumes from Miranda Hoffman, also incredible. So now we are dealing with a lot of new stuff. It's a trip!

The trippiest part for me is that all of a sudden, these things which were only in the imaginations of the Brothers are now made real by the talents and hard work of many other people. I do not want to sound all super-goopy but it is really a magical thing and I feel very very lucky to have this great creation take place. It is way beyond the Brothers now and the talents of so many people are being poured into this project to make it fabulous for you, the public. It's really incredible when I think about it. It is making our vision manifest, to say it in fifty-cent words. We are very very lucky girls.

And we are luckiest of all because we have the unbelievable Leigh at the helm. I cannot say enough good things about her directorial brilliance. I mean I could, but hey we all have to get to work today, including me. She is a gem. Super smart, super talented, super generous and yes, I will objectify her for a moment, super gorgeous. She is the full package people, and we are so fortunate to have her driving this train.

Today is more making of the cues and practicing them and then tomorrow night is dress rehearsal. Ahhh! I can't believe there will be humans to watch this thing happen. It's too soon. But I am fickle that way, as just yesterday I was feeling like we had plenty of time. I feel like I have to cram for my character and started reading a little Stanislavski this morning. Gee, that's a long book! But I hear it's worth reading the whole thing, so I'm going to dammit!

Hope you are all well out there. Be thinking of us...

Yer Blogster,
moe.

westward ho!

2005-07-14T22:32:00.000-04:00

Dear Readers Near and Far-

This photo was taken backstage left on our set! I do not want to spoil the show for you so I am not including a picture from the other side that the audience sees. This photo is the backstage view. A wooden wall (known in the biz as a TV flat) that has been painted with fireproof paint and bears a sticker that shows where it goes on the set and what shop built it. I will say that the set looks gorgeous and David Korins, the designer is a very talented fellow. Anyone who has the power to do so and is reading this blog should definitely hire this man. He is a great designer and he (along with Mark the technical director and all the carps and scenic painters) has transported a little piece of the desert to East 4th Street.

So today was yes people, our first day in the theatre! We moved one door west into the place we will perform the show. Very exciting. There is a little more real estate to cover than in the rehearsal hall so we spent the day moving through the show to figure how it's all going to look now that the real features are in place instead of the carefully laid tape marks on the floor which we have been rehearsing on. There are real steps and real doors and so much more reality than we had been dealing with. Plus, there is the supergood air conditioning at the theatre which was welcome on this very muggy summer day in Manhattan. If you come and see the show, you yourself will get to experience the beautiful set AND the quality conditioned air. What a nice way to spend a summer evening or weekend afternoon!

One week from yesterday will be our first performance in front of an audience. It is hard to believe this is the case. There are many many hands and minds at work to make the show happen and though I optimistically hope I will get to thank them all, this would not be possible because people all over are doing their parts to make this show the best dang ticket in town. You will have your chance in less than a week's time to see what all this has been about and I certainly hope that if you have the chance, you will stop by our little outpost of the lively arts in the East Village and see this new take on a crusty old play. It's as if we found the original text after being locked away in a footlocker for centuries and sent it through the laundry with good detergent and Bounce and it came out all fluffy and new-looking. I mean, aren't you a little curious by this point?

Off to slumberland now. See you later.

Your Faithful Recorder,
moe.

Flotation genius

2005-07-13T10:04:00.000-04:00

Name: Alan Shrier
Job: Web Master of NYTW
Sign: Pisces
Turn-Ons: Oh my...
Turn-Offs: Anything that isn't "oh my".
Quote: "Oh for god's sake."

Here he is ladies and gentlemen, Alan Shrier! Otherwise known as Float King of East 4th Street, Alan is the diabolical mastermind behind our fantastic Palm Springs entry in the Pride march a couple of weeks ago. He is wearing a tee-shirt that was the opening night show gift for the Brothers' last show at NYTW, Brides of the Moon. Ain't he a handsome devil?

Sorry to not blog for a few days friends, but the theatre is demanding and I needed my beauty sleep. The days whiz by as we careen towards our date with destiny upon the stage of NYTW. The play is looking good, if I may hazard an opinion from the start of week four of rehearsal. Today is our last day in the studio and we move next door onto the big stage tomorrow. I will boldly speak for all of us who have been in the rehearsal room to date when I say that the process has been a pleasure. I know the actors feel very well cared for by our terrific team of theatre professionals and it seems it is going well for them too, as they have not had to call D-I-V-A-9-1-1 once (yet) during the course of rehearsal to deal with any meltdowns. All of this would not be possible without ALL the folks at NYTW and at the start and end of each day (and sometimes in between), our fantastic director Leigh! We are so damn lucky.

I will be very curious to see what you all have to say about this show. Well, maybe not all of you to be honest, since anybody could be reading this and I'm not sure I could handle the opinions of everybody in the world with access to the internet and the cash to see the play. I hope you are theatrically satisfied by the show if you are able to see it. And you will get to see what all the work and brownies and donuts amounted to.

I must be off to rehearsal friends. It is gray and muggy here in NYC today and we just had one of those five minute downpours that steams everything up, but offers no real relief. Hope our play does not do the same.

Good luck today in all your endeavors and thanks for checking in with us.

Blogliciously Yours,
moe.

Friday morning, coming down

2005-07-08T11:32:00.000-04:00

Hello Blogtastic Public-

It's day four of week three of rehearsals for O@PS, here at New York Theatre Workshop. The day started for me with a brief but entertaining costume fitting with assistant costume designer Amelia and the costume shop supervisor, Hallie. I felt that I was in very good hands in such an assisted and supervised situation. Now I am hanging out for a minute, waiting for my comrade Lisa to come from her fitting to run lines with me. If you are wondering, yes, we do need to spend time memorizing our lines but it doesn't take that long. So if you ever think of asking an actor after a show "how did you memorize all those lines?", now you know that we memorize lines the same way as you memorize that Fanta jingle from two summers ago: by hearing it a thousand times!

It is cool and rainy here in NYC and a gray and soupy sky has been with us for many days now. The rain at least feels like a consolation, as if there was some point to all the gloominess. Inside the reheasrsal room, it's a hot hot summer day in Palm Springs and that is the magic of theatre.

Yesterday, ML, our lighting designer was a special guest star for much of the day and that was fun. Our Australian boyfriend Ben was here too. No, that was the day before. The set is coming together next door in the theatre and that's supa-kewl, as the youngsters say.

Last night after rehearsal some of us went up to Madison Square Garden to see the NY Liberty play a fantastic comeback win game against the Connecticut Sun. It was fantastically inspiring to see two sets of five capable ladies make another kind of magic happen. It's all about five today.

More later dear friends. Lisa has returned to run lines.

Yer Pal,
moe.

ASM, coming your way

2005-07-05T21:41:00.000-04:00

Name: Antonia "Rose of Sicily" Gianino
Job: Assistant Stage Manager
Sign: Aries
Turn-Ons: Good sense of humor
Turn-Offs: Selfish people

Quote: "I really do have a sense of humor. I'm just Sicilian."

Antonia may wear her poker face to work (I prefer to think she is being respectful of the process), but this lady knows how to keep track of stuff and that is largely her job at present. Actors and their lines, props, scenery; if you are lost on the stage or behind it, Antonia is the person who will bail your sorry ass out and point you in the right direction with a gentle but firm hand. And I think I have spoken enough about her brownie-making skills.

Good day today, as we had Babs with us all the live-long day. We're so happy that she will be around for every day from now on and that she has temporarily kissed her day job goodbye. She may work for The Man in a midtown cubicle to make money, but now, she's back with her Brothers where her artistic side may shine and we are all delighted.

It's getting thrilling as we get closer to moving into the theatre and the excitement I feel is greater than all the cups of decaf I drink at rehearsal, combined! I am sensitive to caffeine and the other Brothers can vouch for what happens to me when I get even trace amounts in my system. Excitement! But the show is more exciting! We can't wait for you to come and see it.

Off to bed now, my blogmates. Hope your lives are as fulfilling as all of ours are over at NYTW. We are all so lucky, you dear readers included.

Off to Slumberland,
moe.

interview with...

2005-07-04T15:34:00.000-04:00

Name: Donuts and Munchkins
Job: Breakfast of champions
Sign: Cancer
Turn-Ons: bakers Dozen
Turn-Offs: Tired cop jokes

Quote: "Our sugar coated, deep-fried goodness says it all. We're sending out the sweetness to the whole of the O@PS family at NYTW. Keep up the good work people and ye shall be rewarded with our presence."

Though this picture comes from a few days ago and these baked goods are long gone, let their memory live on here on the blog. Martha was kind enough to sense that donuts were needed at this point in the process and as I was the lone donut-eating Brother at rehearsal that day, I speak for myself and my Brethren when I say that the inspiration these lifesavers provided cannot be underestimated. That's what we like, a production stage manager that knows how to motivate the staff. It is a tough choice between Antonia's brownies and these morsels. I can't decide which was better and nobody can make me, dammit!

Enjoy your independence on this day and every day, if you are lucky enough to have it!

more on Tuesday,
moe.

Fight!

2005-07-03T22:37:00.000-04:00

Brother Dominique here. Today was fight choreography, which is always a big thrill. I have never been in the kind of fight where punches are thrown, but when you learn from the best how to fake it, it feels really satisfying, kind of like the real thing I bet, only without the pain and remorse.

Moe and I have developed a new tradition of going to Moe's favorite Polish restaurant, Little Poland, for after-rehearsal chow. I was so high on adrenalin for the first few days of rehearsal that I was uninterested in eating and lost a few pounds. So now we are on a plan to get fat. We both could use a little heft for our roles as the butches. We are very committed to our craft, a la DeNiro. If I have to eat full orders of potato pirogies every night for the next three weeks, then so be it.

Tomorrow, believe it or not, we have an actual day off. It is the birthday of our country, after all. Though we do have homework assignments. Thank you, Martha, for insisting the Brothers take a day off.

I don't at the moment remember the names of the fight guys who came in with us, but they were super cute and helpful. Moe, can you give them a shout out?

c'est tout pour moi,

DD

interview with toni

2005-07-01T21:56:00.000-04:00

Name: Toni Amicarella
Job: NYTW's Director of New Play Development and Dramaturgy
Sign: Gemini
Turn-Ons: puppies!
Turn-Offs: snarky people
Animal Companions: Emma and Misha, both dogs, both adorable

Quote: "Love means never having to say you didn't see this play."

Toni was our special guest star for part of rehearsal this evening. The picture of her engaged in deep conversation with Leigh our director, was an action shot taken whilst the two of them were very involved in heated debate about who put the drama in western drama. The picture of her with the little dog is Toni with her friend Django, the apricot miniature poodle owned by Brothers Peg and Lisa. As you can see, the two of them are engaged as deeply as Leigh and Toni are.

And that's Toni.

The Brothers and company spent the last half of the day blocking two new un-blocked scenes, the Shame on the Moon scene, followed by the Cockatiel's scene. These names will mean nothing to you out there, so you will need to come and see the show to know what I am speaking of, but suffice to say that it is more of the same work we have been doing these past several days. Sitting and reading the scenes a few times to get a feel for the emotional movement and then getting up on our feet and letting Leigh literally move us around on the stage. Then we go back and run as we build the scene so it sticks in our minds and Leigh can get an idea for the larger movements of the scene and play. It's getting funner all the time, as we are able to act more and more when we can get the scripts out of our hands.

Tomorrow the day starts with costume fittings, which is always fun. New outfits! Clothes are the kind of thing that really help me as an actor. Hair, even moreso. We will not be wigged in this show, but are going for a naturalistic thing so we will have character-appropriate hairdos. I can't wait for this personally, since I have been letting my hair grow out somewhat so the barber would have something to work with. But it's really hot and I don't mean in the sexy way. More on my haircut situation after tomorrow's work.

Hope you are all enjoying these reports from off-blogway. If there's anything I am not covering that you'd like to know about, please feel free to ask.

Nighty-night,
moe.

interview with our PSM

2005-07-01T15:00:00.000-04:00

Hello there, blogtastic reader!

I start today off with a little introduction to one of our fabulous team here at NYTW. That's her picture just above.

Name: Martha "Righteous Boo-tay" Donaldson
Job: Production Stage Manager
Sign: Libra
Turn-Ons: Sense of humor, spontaneity, beach at sunset
Turn-Offs: Stupidity
Animal Companions: Two cats, Dot and Mama, both described as "Holsteins"

Quote: "Doing this play with The Five Lesbian Brothers, Leigh Silverman and Team Table is the most fun I can think of having in NYC in the summer"

Spontaneous joke from yesterday's rehearsal:
Martha: "What's the difference between Beer Nuts and Deer Nuts?"
Everybody Else: "I don't know."
Martha: "Beer Nuts cost a dollar sixty-nine and Deer Nuts are under a buck!"

And that's Martha, folks.

Yesterday we kept on blocking, while at the same time, continued to incorporate new pages of writing and changes what we are making into the script. It is really complicated sometimes! I can't recall what is still in the play and what used to be in the play and oh, people, this is not for the faint of heart, or the memory-impaired. But we are going forward and all systems are go. The set is being built in the theatre next door and we stuck our heads in there to look at it and it's very very exciting and a little scary too. All that lumber! Peg suggested that we would buy the scrap off the theatre after the production and build a house in Palm Springs with it. And we might be able to.

I am actually writing to you today from the rehearsal room. We are on a break, having spent the first half of the day delving into the writing once again and are now about to power up to full with our entire creative team and get rehearsal up on its feet again. I will try and take a picture of the room so you can see the glamorous world of rehearsal.

It is still amazing to me that this show is getting done and I once again take the liberty to speak for all the Brothers in saying that we are thrilled to have this opportunity. We are having a great time in rehearsal, in the capable hands of Leigh and with the supa-dupa support of the ladies on Team Table (that's Dana, Martha, Antonia and Kate). Tessa, the prop fairy arrives daily and deposits little bundles of things for us to work with. The play is very proppy and everyone is being really good about that. I think we are on budget for the set and costumes and the props are going to require a bailout from the IMF or the World Bank. Thank you Lynn Moffat and all the numbers folks downstairs who have made all those margarita glasses possible!

More later dear friends of the theatre. The muses call me to my station now. Pencil and script in hand, I humbly go to my entrance...

Blogglily Yours,
moe.

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

2005-06-29T21:45:00.000-04:00

Was not able to check in after yesterday's rehearsal but suffice to say, that it went very well. We started a few hours later in the day and ended up working a straight six instead of an eight-hour day. This was due to illness in the Brothers, as Peg is battling a bad sinus infection and Dominique seemed to be coming down with a sore throat kind of a thing. Leigh decided to give us a couple of extra hours of rest and that was like a gift from the comedy and tragedy muses themselves! Really folks, it is crazy how tight our lives are right now and let me apologize publicly here on the internet to all of my friends and family who have not heard a word out of me in weeks. It is to the point where I must literally schedule doing my laundry, or else it won't get done. Pathetic, but true.

But it's all good, good people.

So we worked all five of us last night, with Babs bravely showing up after her 8 hours at the day job! A particularly special moment in the gay pride parade was when we rolled and sloshed past Babs' place of business up there in midtown on Fifth Ave, not too far from St. Pat's cathedral. We all waved hello to Babs' cubicle, or the building that houses it anyway. So she was with us last evening and we did a read through of the latest version of the script for Jim and Linda Chapman (Associate Artistic Director), Toni Amicarella (Director of New Play Development and Dramaturgy) and a couple of guests, Lola Pashalinski and our new friend from Melbourne, Australia, Ben who runs a theatre down there and is interested in NYTW and how they facilitate the generation of new work.

The reading went well and it was really really good to hear the whole play again since we have been making adjustments to the script and we could then hear them in the fabric of the whole. Seemed good and we made another lists of things we gotta fix, but the good news is, the list is not very very long at all. Compared to what it was, anyway.

Today, Wednesday was a grand day. Here's why: BROWNIES! (see above)

Antonia, ASM extraordinaire made not one, but two types of brownies and brought them into work today! One was regular chocolatey goodness and the other was uber-regular with butterscotch chips and coconut in them. I ate too many. But I am happy to be corrupted by Antonia's thoughtful poisons. As poisons go, these are pretty tame. And divine!

I am trying to upload the picture of the brownies that Martha took on her cell phone and sent to me but it is giving me a hassle about it. Ugh, technology.

After the collective brownie gratitude of the day's start, we moved on to matters more directly theatrical. We continued blocking the big-ass BBQ scene and worked through some of the script problems we'd encountered along the way. It was a fun day I'd say. Lots of laughing in the rehearsal room. Ben was there as a visiting scholar again and he is a lovely fella. I will tell you more about his theatre company in Melbourne once I squeeze the info out of him.

We ran all of the BBQ scene we'd worked and little chunks of the thing are starting to fall into place. I'm starting to feel like I know somewhat of where I'm going, both physically and acting-wise and that's nice. Since we are still being writers it is challenging to switch to the actor's role but I am beginning to feel that happen.

I reiterate dear readers, it's all good.

Tomorrow we start in the late afternoon, will do six hours straight and have all five of us called. Meanwhile, I will try to get the brownies on the blog here.

Keep the faith, friends.
Your Bloglicious Brother,
moe.

PS- I figured out the brownie upload!

post-pride depression

2005-06-27T22:37:00.000-04:00

OK, friends I will try and be brief. But I did want to try and share a little of the pride we were showered with yesterday. I will give you a visual first. Hope that worked because it is the first time I put an image on. If it didn't I'll try again tomorrow with tech assistance.

Anyway, we sloshed our way down Fifth Avenue (yes the pool was full of water!), carefully following the purple line painted down the middle of the street so as not to lose our way. It was a terrific day and I must admit, I did not feel very much pride coursing through my veins when I woke up yesterday morning, as I was tired. But the show must go on and let me tell you, it was totally fun to be in the genius swimming pool all the way to the village. The crowd seemed to like it too, especially when the streets got narrow and they begged us to splash them with our pool water. Which we did.

We could not have done it without the aforementioned genius of Alan and his inspired poolside ideas and all those that helped build the flotilla and get it uptown, like the carps and Larry Ash. And all the NYTW folks who braved the blistering heat to support us. A special shout out to our chauffeur Adam, who got his gay on for the day and played the part of the hunky driver. And to our dear friend Susie who DJ'ed us all the way downtown.

I save the biggest thanks for last, our crew of hotties (in all senses of the word) who valiantly trekked beside our rolling waterworld and handed out flyers to the crowd and answered questions and were adorable. There will be a special place in The Brothers' heaven for all of you good people. Thank you SOOOO much for devoting part or all of your Sunday to our cause. We love you Todd, Molly, Winter, Betsy, Robbie, Kirk, Oliver, Lisa, Lisa, Dale, Dale, Tom, Kate, Bash, Martha, Mia and David!

And a big kiss to our fearless leader, our director Leigh who worked so hard to pull in volunteers and get the pride flowing. Plus, she walked all the way with us. And it was hot and sunny, and she has black hair!

Sleep tight, good people and there will be more from the constantly shifting front of creativity tomorrow.

zzzzzzzz,
moe.

DD checks in

2005-06-25T23:19:00.000-04:00

Howdy! First I want to say that I am in awe of Brother Moe's posts. So prolific! And written after long, grueling days of rehearsal and writing. Way to go, Moe!

I am Brother Dominique Dibbell and I just wanted to check in with all you in Blogland.

The rehearsal process is always exciting, and sometimes more in a throw-up kind of way. This rehearsal process is the most exciting one I have yet experienced.

Why is that? I don't know for sure, but I think part of it is that the Brothers have had a long hiatus (7 years since our last show). We have a renewed sense of gratitude for our relationship. We also did some growing up and our play reflects it. Folks, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say this play is our best one yet! It's deeper that our previous works, while continuing a tradition of hilarity and titillation!

The other factor is our director, Leigh Silverman. She is so talented, it's scary! Plus she knows just how to treat tempermental actresses.

I wish we could rehearse 24-7, that's how fun it is.

The Dyke March was great, but I am wiped out. I moved to LA 5 years ago and I am not used to walking 40 blocks on pavement anymore! I think I came in last in the contest to see who can hand out the most cards for the show. I was too wilty. Besides seeing my friends and being a part of an unignorable lesbian mass, I think my favorite part was the rolling bondage post. Those fetishists are really dedicated!

Yours,

DD

saturday, in the park

2005-06-25T20:55:00.000-04:00

Hello friends of the theatre!

Sorry to have not checked in with you all yesterday but it has been a busy week and yes, there is a lot of stuff to do to make a show happen. Like write it, for instance. We four writing Brothers (Dominique, Peg, Lisa and myself) spend a whole lotta time in our off-time tinkering with the script. I say tinkering, like it is a quaint hobby that is performed in a cozy corner of a basement with no deadline, but that is decidedly not the case. We are plowing through our writing notes to ourselves and have made good progress on tightening the script. I will hoist our petard about that. Hoist, hoist! Yet, there is still a big old scene to be tackled, a very long one where a lot of important stuff happens. We have written and re-written is so many times already, trying many different angels of attack but still we find ourselves unsatisfied. And we do not want the same fate for you, the viewing public when you see the show. So we return to the drawing board again and again and get it a little righter each time. Or so I hope.

Yesterday was a fun day of rehearsal and we continued working our way through the first part of the play and Leigh did the blocking. Well, she told it to us (blocking, for those of you lucky enough to not know, is what the movements of the actors are called "in the biz") and we did it and wrote it down in our scripts. Our ace stage management team also writes it down, which is good because sometimes I forget to write something down and then I can ask the ladies at the table to refresh my memory of a certain movement. We are a little more than a third of the way through the play, at this point.

I should also mention that since we are working on a new play,and we are also the playwrites, we are making change to the script constantly. That means that new pages must be generated and copied and distributed to everyone in the rehearsal room and to the designers, for instance if we make a big change like adding a scene or taking away a location. It can be very confusing. So a big shout out to the Ladies of the Table (Martha, Antonia and Kate) for being really good about all the paper flying around and so very helpful in executing the new pages shuffle. It is a small drag when a new page comes and all of the painstaking notes about blocking and props and cues are on the old one, and they are being very good about it all. Yay, Team Table!

We had a couple of special guest stars visit us yesterday, starting with our good friend and superhunk stage manager Chuck Means. He popped in at the top o' the day and I think the whiff of testosterone that trailed behind him really helped me to get my butch on for the afternoon. Then Miranda Hoffman, our costume designer came in and sat and watched for awhile, to get a feel for us beyond our cold measurements on the page. Those numbers represent a human being, and she knows it.

So that was Friday and today was Saturday and we did what's called a "straight 6", meaning we worked six straight hours without a meal break. This is not the preferred scheduling but we needed to be free in the early evening to go work the crowd at the dyke march. For those of you who are not familiar with this Pride season phenomenon, the dyke march is an offshoot march from the big hoo-ha tomorrow which, as the name implies, is for dykes to seize control of Fifth Avenue and walk downtown from the Public Library at 42nd Street to Washington Square Park. It is always spirited and fun and there is a lot of drumming and some toplessness and a whole lot of chatting with one's dykely friends. So today, we kept on blocking the show and then took off at 4:00 for the fountain in Bryant Park, where we reconvened and strolled down the ave, handing out postcards for the show and talking to those girls that you really only manage to see that once a year at this particular march. It was a fun as ever and we ended up in Washington Square, listening to our friends Gretchen Phillips, Kaye Turner and Caroline (whose last name I do not know) have a reunion gig of their band Girls in the Nose at their impromptu lesbian hootnanny.

We were also visited by speacial guest stars ML Geiger (our lighting designer) who sat pondering the lighting implications for a show set in the desert in August and once again, Miranda graced our rehearsal and talked to Babs about her full-body deep tan makeup possibilities.

Tomorrow is the 36th Annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Pride March, and we can be found on our flotilla that Alan has been hard at work on with his team of dedicated friends of NYTW. Stop by Fifth Ave if you are in the neighborhood and we should appear somewhere near the middle of the march. It does go on for hours so you might want to check out the web site of Heritage of Pride to try and figure out where we are in the lineup. I would estimate our time of arrival at say, 5th and 14th to be around like 3:00, but that is a wild guess.

Day off is Monday, so I will not post then. Meantime, have a good Pride everyone, wherever you may be spending it. If you are not queer yourself, take a little time to call a loved one who is and tell them you think they're great. And if you are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or have been for any moment of your life but are not able to celebrate with the rest of the rainbow nation, take some time on our international day of proudness to be grateful that you came out queer. It's a gift, so use it wisely friends.

Your Lesbian Brother,
moe.

Day three

2005-06-24T10:13:00.000-04:00

Hello from the morning of day four and your blog correspondent finds herself behind her deadline. Oh well, done is better than perfect, as my Brother Dominque says.

So yesterday was the meet and greet at the top of rehearsal. The entire staff of NYTW tromped upstairs from the admin offices and the theatre, called by the siren song of snack foods and beverages. The kitchen was bustling with happy voices, excited by the start of a new show and more importantly, chips and salsa, lovely crudites and alcohol-free margaritas. The snacks were theme-coordinated to the show and hey, we could have been in Palm Springs if you closed your eyes and took enough over-the-counter cough medicine.

The herd of the artistically-inclined then moved to the rehearsal room, guided by our good shepherd Martha where we stood around in a lopsided circle and introduced ourselves. It was very impressive, I must say. So many people working on this show! I will probably bore you dear reader, with so many references to the great gratiude of The Five Lesbian Brothers towards all the folks at NYTW, but we are truly truly grateful for the incredible show of confidence in us and our process. See, we are a collaborative machine and for any of you out there who have ever had a job where you had to work with somebody else or been in a relationship where you had to talk to someone, you know that communication is a sticky business, a deeply human and flawed business. It's not math, even Enron style and there is no clear path and the journey can take you far afield before you get to where you thought you were going, or at least someplace you can all agree on. It is messy and our process takes a lot of time. And NYTW has given us that time in so many ways for the last 3 years of working on this piece. Those people in that building believe in what we do and this has given us an artistic home. We are very very lucky girls.

So there we all were, the interns and the artistic directors and the carpenters and the casting people and the IT folks and we all said our names and then there were little speeches from Jim Nicola, artistic director and Leigh our director and Lisa on behalf of the Bros and that was all very ego-boosting for us or in the proper terminology of today, "humbling". Then David Korins, our supercool set designer introduced us all to the set model (I will try and install a picture of it here) and we were once again overwhelmed by the idea that this is all starting to be real and not just us sitting around in a room trying to figure out which of the four versions of a sentence we should use! Ahhh! Then everybody trickled back down to their jobs and we began ours again, this time standing up on the rehearsal set.

Martha, Antonia and Kate spent the morning taping the floor so we have some idea of the groundplan of the set and rehearsal props and furniture were brought in by Tessa Dunning, the properties goddess.The carpenters made a mock-up of the swimming pool for us to sit on. It is starting to look like a play, or at least the rehearsal of a play. I repeat, ahhh! And Leigh, our kind and gentle captain of the good ship OAPS got us up on our feet and we began blocking the show. All five Brothers, treading the boards once again.

You know what? We have the best job in the world.

More later folks.

Faithfully Submitted,
moe.

Rehearsal, day two

2005-06-22T22:31:00.000-04:00

Wednesday June 22, 2005 found the Five Lesbian Brothers hard at work on our play again all the live-long day. We sat and continued to read and talk through the last third of the script that we had not gotten to yesterday. This is typically what happens in the first few days of the rehearsal process and is called "table work", because you usually sit around a table and there are pencils and water bottles and coffee cups along with the scripts and important papers. It is a good way to get into the basic movements of the play, sort of see what your acting hurdles will be and not have to do this while walking around with a script in hand. The fumbling script juggle will come tomorrow when we get on our feet and start moving about, but for today we were safely glued to our chairs, speaking thoughtfully about what everyone is doing in all the scenes and then reading through them and trying to act.

We also spent a good amount of time talking about problems we encounter in the writing, trying to reach some consensus on how to go about solving these issues and making a work list for ourselves to refer to in the off-rehearsal hours when we sit down to write. Basically, from here on in, it's all play, play, play and most of what we do in our lives will circle around this huge project. It was no small potatoes to call our piece Oedipus at Palm Springs and invoke one of the cornerstones of western drama. So we are trying to do Sophocles justice and would like to get it right. Not that we are copying the original (we prefer to use the term "sampling") but we need to earn the dramatic turns the story takes, transposed as it is into the present day lives of two lesbian couples on vacation in the desert. So, there's stuff to fix still and we are a-fixin' to fix it all up good so that the story makes sense at the very least.

To introduce you to a few of the other members of our production team, I will begin with who is in the room with us working. We have The Brothers (minus Babs today who was at her day job) and Leigh our superfine director. Our assistant director is the sharp Dana Harrel, who told me today that she was of Polish descent, but comes from Peru, and to me, that makes her an enigma. Then we have stage management, lead by our gifted production stage manager, the effervescent, booty-shakin' Voice of Reason, Martha Donaldson. Her right hand lady is the total talent force, assistant stage manager Antonia Gianino, an old friend of the Brothers who has worked with us on past shows at NYTW. Also with us is our plucky production assistant Kate Hefel who is originally from Iowa but transplanted herself to NY and continues to thrive, despite the concrete. We are so happy to have all these talented ladies with us in the rehearsal room and it is truly a pleasure coming to work in the morning. And I'm not just saying that because they make the coffee before we even get there. Well, maybe I am a little... OK, I'm shallow, I admit it.

Also in our little world of the third floor, in the office to the south of us, is our dear friend Alan. Now, Alan works at NYTW and he is the web master but more importantly, Alan is the creative design genius behind many of the fabulous benefits that NYTW has put on over the years. If you have a theme, Alan is your man to embellish and carry it out. And as luck would have it, our play does have a theme of sorts, Palm Springs. So Alan has been hard at work to create a fabulous flotilla for the Brothers for this year's Pride march which happens this Sunday, down Fifth Ave. He is really going all out on this one folks, and yes, there will be a swimming pool on our float!!!! We are totally excited about the pool, especially as it is sometimes roastingly hot and pride can be a sweaty event. We also have a gaggle of hotties to sashay down the avenue with us and hand out flyers for the show and generally flirt with the crowd. Please come see us and the work of mastermind Alan while we join all the other proud queer folks (and their allies) and shake our pride all over the place. Maybe you'll be lucky or flirtatious enough to get some cute swag from one of our handlers.That's this Sunday, June 26. I will provide more details as they become available to us.

Tomorrow is the official meet-and-greet where all the folks working on the show and at the theatre get to meet each other. I am hoping there will be donuts. Hard to come by in these carb-negative times we live in but a girl can dream selfishly, can't she? In any event, tomorrow I will report on the goings-on from the floor below us, Administration. Sexy, no? It's a busy beehive of activity at 83 East 4th Street and I intend to get to the bottom of it all during the course of this blog.

OK, kids, I gotta get back to work on a particularly prickly scene that we are still trying to tackle. We've written it and re-written it so many times that it is taking on a life of its own. We could leave it alone and eventually we'll have to for the sake of the tech crew's nerves, but we are stubborn lesbians and we want to get it right. Of course you, the viewing public shall be the judge of that in the end result. In the meantime, go see some other shows around whatever town you are in and support the theatre. Why? Because it is totally worth it!

Thanks for reading and we'll see ya again soon.

Respectfully Submitted,
moe.

first day of rehearsal

2005-06-22T02:30:00.000-04:00

Hello out there in Bloglandia. I am Moe, one of the Five Lesbian Brothers. The Brothers are currently making a new show "Oedipus at Palm Springs" at New York Theatre Workshop, yes in New York City, and I will endeavor to report to you periodically about what goes on in that process. It's very exciting, let me tell you.

A little about the Brothers first. We are a collaborative theatre company that started in 1989 at New York's fabulous WOW Cafe Theatre. We are made up of Babs Davy, Dominique Dibbell, Peg Healey, Lisa Kron and myself, Moe Angelos. Our relationship with NYTW began about twelve years ago and the Workshop has been an artistic home for the Brothers since. We have written five or six plays together and a book of humor. Four of the plays are published in a very handsome collection by the good folks at Theatre Communications Group. Buy a copy from your local alternative or non-chain bookstore or order it online directly from TCG if you want to check out our past work. The humor book, you might be able to get on E-Bay as it is long ago out of print.

So today was our first day of rehearsal. I'm a little beat right now and I must say that I had an unfortunate computer crash just moments ago that resulted in the loss of my entire first posting to this blog. So this is a re-do and as the hour is late, I will not be as thorough as I would have liked. But we basically did what is done on the first day: we had an Equity meeting with a union rep who told us about our pension and health plans, what to do if we are injured on the job and that we cannot be compelled by anyone to dance on marble floors. We got measured for costumes. We read through the script once, then began working through a second time, looking and listening for the things that still need our attention as writers. Because yes, dear reader, we are both the playwrites and the players, all in one. Or all in five, I should say. Actually, this play was only written by four of us, as Babs opted out of writing this time. But that's a story for another episode of this blog.

We are still writing, still tinkering and fixing and perfecting. This is common, so don't go getting all worried about us. The show is being produced at New York Theatre WORKSHOP after all, and the folks around there take that very seriously. We will be working, right down to the last minute before opening and even beyond, as we inevitably find new little things to entertain ourselves and the viewing public all the time we are performing. Revisions will continue and new pages will fly in and out of the script until we are satisfied or until time runs out, whichever comes first. It is a thrilling process to write with these fine creative ladies and then put it up on its feet under the fantastic direction of our supa-dupa director Leigh Silverman. And we are blessed with an expert creative team working with us, as well as the support of all the incredible people who work at NYTW. You will come to know the entire cast of characters as time goes on.

But for now, I need my beauty rest and must hurry myself off to bed. Today was the first day of summer, the solstice, the longest day of the year. It was gorgeous here in New York and in the kind of non-sequitur I am fond of, I cannot help but think that I have the best job in the world. To make theatre that I care about, that delights me (and hopefully others) and makes my fellows laugh in these somewhat sad times we are living through. I feel very fortunate indeed.

More later, gentle reader. Please write us here if you have any questions about the process or anything at all. I will try to post daily, though this will be more challenging as the opening date draws near. See you tomorrow.

goodnight,
moe.

5 Lesbian Bloggers

2005-06-15T10:23:00.000-04:00

COMING SOON! Check back in a few days, and we'll be well on our way!

Visit New York Theatre Workshop for more info and Telecharge.com for ticket sales.